Overview
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's annual involvement with the NZ International Film Festival (NZIFF) sees them recreate the score of classic films in real time. This year, for the much-anticipated 20th edition of Live Cinema, the ensemble will take on Alfred Hitchcock's moody, morally ambiguous thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog.
The 1927 film has been described by the legendary filmmaker as "the first true Hitchcock movie". The Lodger takes place in London, a city plagued by a killer who only strangles beautiful young blondes. Ivor Novello plays a mysterious stranger who emerges from the London fog to seek lodgings with the family of Daisy, a beautiful young blonde. When he isn't prowling the city by night, he paces the floor in his upstairs room.
As part of the 2019 NZIFF, the film will feature as a sparkling new 2K restoration with an atmospheric new score by Neil Brand and conducted by Peter Scholes.
NZIFF Programme Manager Michael McDonnell says, "The Lodger is a treat for all Hitchcock fans offering the pleasure of spotting the early occurrences of many of the themes and characteristics of his later classics: dark humour, erotic obsession and a serious lack of faith in the competence and goodwill of the police."
The Lodger will screen for one night at Auckland's The Civic on Sunday, 4 August.
Image: Russell Street.